Luck of the Draw
by CannedCream
Summary: Years after Eggman's death, Tails finds himself in a world that no longer needs heroes. As he tries to move on with his life he finds that he can not let go of his past, but comfort comes from the last person he'd ever expect. Tails x Rouge F
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

_"__Bye bye baby.  
Don't be long.  
I'll worry about you while you're gone."_

-Ivy

_A black line._

_A stupid black line._

_A stupid flashing black line._

These were the only words typed on the otherwise blank screen that sat before him. They had nothing to do with the real work that was piling all around, but no matter how long or hard he stared at the computer the words would just would not come. There were so many papers to write, so much research to be done and every tick of the clock brought him closer and closer to deadlines with nothing to show. He knew of the importance of the work he was assigned, but yet he found himself enable press on. Instead his eyes drifted again and again to the picture that stood upright and proud on his desk. The distraction the picture was causing that evening was so bad that one point the had laid the photo face down on he floor, but not even this could break it's magnetic pull. Perhaps no more then a few minutes passed before he found himself holding that framed photograph in his hands again looking back at the younger faces of himself and his friends.

It was not the picture that was really causing the distraction, but the memories that were brought with it; so many that one thought could barley make a foothold in his mind without causing a dozen more to appear. Life may not have been easier then, he would not fool himself into thinking that it was, but it _had _been better, because despite the constant danger there had been a kind of excitement mixed in with the fear and with it came a strange euphoria. Things might have been harder, but they were also. . . right. Everything had changed, though, the world moved on and he was forced to move with it; everyone was. How long had it really been since he had seen any of them?

Sonic.

Knuckles.

Amy.

Rouge.

Shadow.

Cream.

These were faces and names that faded as time moved by, and it was time that eventually brought them apart. Their common goal had been reached and without that thread to keep them together they each eventually drifted off into their own lives.

His name was Miles Prower, once known as "Tails", and before the death of Dr. Robotnik he had been a hero.

Whatever it was that caused that need in Eggman to comment such grave acts of evil, that made him lust for power and yearn for destruction was something that Tails would never know, perhaps no one would, but whatever the reason the fact remained that no matter how many times he failed in his evil schemes; Eggman would return only to be defeated again and again at the hands of Sonic and the rest. With each failure would come a drastic escape plan that would allow Robotnik to slip away from their grasp. However, as ingenious as the man may have been all of his intellect, cunning, and skill could not match up to the one things that truly decides the outcome of all events without mercy:

Luck.

As it was, Eggman had tempted the cold hands of fate one too many times and finally found himself ensnared in it's grasp.

It was Tails who eventually tract Eggman to a base he had hidden underneath the ground from which he was sending wave after wave of Eggman robots to the surface to destroy anything in their path. The adventure had been tough on all of them and there were times when hope seemed lost, but somehow they had survived the attacks on the surface, the guards underground, as well as the last ditch effort to destroy all of them. As Tails was remotely deactivating the robotic henchmen, Eggman escaped though a railway he had build away from the facility and to the surface, but not before setting off a self destruct sequence, one that was locked and could not be undone.

Tails and his friends made a mad dash for the surface, reaching the outside world mere moments before the final explosions brought the earth down over the entire facility. Robotnik, however, was not so fortunate. It was days later when work crews were clearing out whatever they could from the wreckage when the body was found. Eggman lay crushed inside his escape pod. Investigations would later show that water from an underground spring had leaked onto an exposed wire that was hooked up to the explosives. This meant nothing for the day-to-day activities that were done beneath the soil, but when self destruct was set off, that exposed wire shorted out causing the explosives located above the escape tracts to blow long before they were set to. It was hard to tell exactly what happened from all the wreckage, but it appeared as though the escape pod ran into the fallen part of the tunnel at full speed. Whether Eggman was killed in the crash or simple knocked out then crushed is unknown, but in the end his death was quick and maybe it was exactly how Robotnik would have wanted to go: in a blaze of glory without capture or trial. And perhaps this was the greatest victory he ever had over his rivals; because no matter how many times in life he tried to tear Sonic and his friends apart, it was only in his death that he managed to do so; for without this great evil creating a constant threat the world no longer needed heroes. The world no longer needed _them_.

That's not to say that all evil was gone from their world, that was a dream that would most likely never come true, but Robotnik was a supervillain to the core, a mad genius with bigger and darker dreams then the world would allow. After facing something like that your common burglars, chop shops, fires, floods, and earthquakes are nothing. The fact was, without Robotnik, there were nothing that the local police couldn't handle. Even the bigger disasters were solved by the forces working at GUN. As terrible as it sounded; without Eggman everyone just drifted apart.

Shadow the first to leave, which was no surprise as he didn't much care for working in a team. One day he was there and the next he had just disappeared, as was his fashion. Shadow would often leave right after whatever evil plan Eggman had started was finished, but this time everyone knew that this was the last they would probably see of the black and red hedgehog.

Rouge went after that. She was reassigned to do some espionage somewhere far away, although she could not say where or what for. She left one morning and no one as heard from her since.

Next was Knuckles who returned to his duty of protecting the Master Emerald on Angel Island. Last thing Tails had heard was that Knuckles was looking into some things about the history of his people and some rumors that he might not be the last Echidna, although as far as he knew these were just rumors.

As for Sonic and Amy; what seemed like an endless cycle of love and hate finally came to a close some years later as the two decided that maybe they both could survive each other's company after all. The two of them were now touring the world seeing all the sights and basking in each other's love. Sonic had made the comment at one point that the trip was for romantic reasons, but if Tails had to guess, he'd say that that might have been only slightly true, the real reason was Sonic was bored and maybe hoping that somewhere out there he'd be able to recapture a taste of the action he once knew.

Cream is still at home as far as Tails knew. The two of them kept in touch for the longest of time and she made for a great friend in those seemly endless days after Sonic had left, and as much as it hurt him to admit it: it was Tails who left her. He had a brilliant mind, and such brilliance did not go un-noticed. It wasn't long before Tails began to receive college applications on a daily basis, each one wanting him as a part of their student body. He had to admit that the thought of being accepted into such a higher place of learning at his still relatively young age was exciting. There was still so much more that he could learn and Tails wanted to know it all. After months of reading hundreds of pamphlets and visiting dozens of campuses he picked his future and headed for what lied ahead.

The boy was older, but he was sadly still naive. The real world came hard and fast, striking him across the face like an angry lover leaving a bruise that sometimes clears, but never heals. Unable to afford on campus housing (which was more expensive that he ever could have imagined) the young fox found himself alone in a less-than-stellar apartment complex a few miles off campus. His place was small, but at least somewhat affordable. The troubles did not end with a cheap apartment, but only branched out from there; his high intellect meant that he received advance placement in his classes which brought with it advanced work. He was quickly learning that real stress and fear came not from possibility of world destruction, but from term papers, midterms, tests, research projects, bills, finals, loans, the list went on and on. Compared to all of that a little Armageddon could sometimes sound like a nice change of pace. More nights then he'd cared to admit passed with him clutching his pillow tightly against his body trying to pull any comfort he could from it's indifferent embrace.

_A black line._

In his hands Tails had the last picture ever taken of all of them together. Sonic was in the center giving a thumbs up to the camera and winking. Amy was on his left with one arm around his and her head on his shoulder. Tails was on his right smiling into the camera with Cream next to him, her own smile larger and more youthful then his. Knuckles stood on the far right making a fist at the camera like a boxer, Rouge on the left looking pretty for the camera and leaning forward ever so slightly to show off her cleavage, and finally Shadow, who took forever to convince to get in the shot, stood at the other end with his arms crossed looking off to one side waiting for the foolishness to be over.

_A stupid black line._

This was the last record that Tails had from those days, the only relic from a world that faded and vanished from time. Now, in this new city with this new life, Tails felt more like an outsider then he ever had in his life. He was a stranger among his older peers and the pressure it brought sometimes seemed like more then he could take; times like now when he all he could do was look at-

_A stupid flashing black line._

_-_his computer screen when there were papers he was supposed to be writing. Tails was unable to work, unable to_ think. _

What he needed, he decided, was to clear his head. Forcing himself to work was obviously not doing any good and neither was being cooped up in his small apartment, What he needed was some air. Standing up from his desk, Tails crossed to his closet and pulled out a scarf which he wrapped around his neck to keep him warm against the slight fall chill. He was just going to walk around town a little and try to made amends with his past with he was at it. Then when his brain had tired from running at the break-neck speed it seemed insistent on running that night, he would return home and get something substantial done.

In the end our faith, skill, cunning, intelligence; all the bricks we use to build a wall against uncertainty crumble to dust before the all powerful force that is luck, and it was Tails' own luck that would bring him back to a piece of the very past he set out that evening to forget. Had he left his home a minute sooner or later, then who knows how things would have changed?

**TO BE CONTINUED.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

_"Hey now, all you sinners  
Put your lights on,  
Put your lights on  
Hey now, all you children  
Leave your lights on,  
You better leave your lights on"_

-Everlast

Tails crossed his arms against the cold air as he walked with his head down in the shadows cast by the buildings around him in the last of the day's fading light. Around him were small apartment buildings, industrial lots, and small business that weren't quite of the 'mom & pop' variety, but nothing so popular that you'd see advertised on TV. The traffic on the roads had thinned since everyone was already home around the dinner table or still stuck at the office and as the last bit of light disappeared from their part of the world, Tails found that he had the night mostly to himself.

It was much colder now with the sun gone, but the crisp air didn't bother him too badly. If nothing else then the weather gave him something else to think about. Maybe it was the oncoming winter that was making him feel so moody. It's not that he liked feeling this way, but he was just unable to shake the blue funk that had come down over him.

After walking for twenty minutes or so Tails found himself walking past one of the few business still open at that hour: a bar. He looked over at the building with it's wooden walls and large neon sign reading _Railway Bar _in gold print. The front door was left open and from that opening came the sounds of country rock music mixed in with clinking glass and laughing voices of dozens of people. Inside those walls were men and women who had just gotten off from their jobs and slipped in for a few beers with friends. Tails had never had the stuff before, he had always been too young, but it wasn't the alcohol what caught his attention. Rather, it was the voices and laughter that he found himself pining for. He wanted the acceptance and love that those people were sharing with one another. Most of all he wanted to feel like he was normal again.

He learned soon after arriving in this new city how cruel people could be to the outsider. It was his second tail that everyone made fun of him for, or stared at, or tried not to stare at. For the first time in a very long time he felt embarrassed about it, so much so that he had changed he wardrobe to baggy pants so he could his second tail down one of the legs- like he was doing now.

Reaching into his back pocket, all the names he had been called over the past few months came flooding back to him: monster, freak, weirdo, all were insults thrown at him by people who hated him for reasons Tails just couldn't figure out.

If given any machine he would be able take it part, figure out it's function, and put back together in less time then maybe anyone else on the planet. Every part and piece were mysteries that his mind could solve in mere moments without fail.

_I wish people were as easy to understand_, he thought as he pulled out his wallet and opened it up.

The night had been filled with pictures that brought with them memories, so what was the harm of looking at one more. In the back of the wallet behind the ID's and bank cards was an old photograph with had been bent, torn, and weathered with age. In the picture was a very young Tails next to the first person who had ever made him feel like he wasn't some kind of freak: Sonic. He had been like a big brother to him. Before there had been Amy, Cream, Knuckles, or anyone else, there had been Sonic; and it was through him that Tails learned of his genius mind and bravery. Tails could not begin to imagine how he would have survived without Sonic there by his side, but perhaps he had come to rely on his friends too much over the years. What would any of them think if they saw him now? He hated feeling this weak and powerless, however he just couldn't think of a way to stop it. For better or worse this was who was.

Had he not been lost so deeply in thought and self pity as he stood there alone on the sidewalk, he might have seen the figure coming towards him, weaving in and out of the parked cars from the lot behind the fox. He was wearing a coat that was a little too heavy even for the cool weather with it's hood up and closed tight to hide his face. It wasn't until this figure was right on top of him did Tails finally realize he was no longer alone. As quick as lightning one of the person's hands snatched Tails' wallet out of his grip and with the other he shoved him- hard- to the ground. Tails managed to save himself from completely falling on his butt by grabbing hold of a street sign that read No Parking 11:00 PM - 6:00 AM, never the less by the time he got his balance back the coated figure was making a mad dash down the sidewalk.

At first he found himself dumb struck, unable to understand what just happened. As reality set in those emotions were replaced by an anger he had never known. He had put up with a lot ever since moving here and he had suffered through the stress, and insults, and living conditions with his head down and mouth shut, but now this: not being able to walk down the streets, this was too much. Tails had reached his limit and shattered through it. Hardly aware what he was doing, Tails broke out into as fast of a sprint as he could manage. The figure had an impressive lead, but when he saw the boy quickly closing the distance he took a hard left into an ally. He passed a group of trash cans, without breaking his stride he reached for the first one, but his finger only bounced off the top, however on is second try he managed to get enough traction on it to knock the waste bin on the ground behind him before making another hard turn down a back street.

Tails had closed the gap between them some, but was unable to fill it completely. Entering the ally he leaped over the fallen trashcan just in time to see the person in the coat turn the corner. He stayed hot in pursuit the whole time, occasionally tripping on the obstacles thrown in his way, but never falling. The figure rounded another corner and a few moments later Tails did the same, only as he did he discovered that he had reached a dead end and the figure he was chasing was gone. On the ground at the far end off the ally was the heavy coat left discarded in a puddle, but the person wearing it seemed to had vanished.

A feeling of defeat and hopelessness began to set in making him feel more pathetic then ever when suddenly there was movement coming from the top of the two story building before him. The sound was clear enough in the still air: boots running on loose gravel. Tails didn't know how this person managed to scale two stories in the short time it took him to turn the corner, but he didn't much care, either. He was still angry and hell-bent on getting his hands on this thief. In one smooth action, he pulled his second tail out from the back of his pants and spun them quickly. The helicopter like motion of his tails lifted him up off the ground to the top of the building where he let himself drop to it's gravel covered roof. It was here that he finally got his first good look at the thief and what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks.

White fur, large ears, small pointed tail, black wings. These were features that were very familiar to him, but there was no way it could really be-

"Rouge?" Tails' voice came out small and winded, but it must have been picked up by the person running from him because the figure he though was male beneath that heavy coat stopped so suddenly that her boots sprayed gravel around her feet like waves in the ocean. For a moment she only stood there in the dim light that was cast around them. After what felt like a lifetime, she turned around and Tails knew that he had guessed correctly. Here before him was someone he had known once upon a time, someone he called a friend, someone he never thought he'd see again, least of all like this.

For only a second there was a look of confusion and then shame printed on her face, but they were so quickly replaced by a sly smile that Tails could have only imagined them.

"Hey there," Rouge spoke in a voice that was a little out of breath, but otherwise as smooth and innocent as ever. She held his wallet up slightly in the air. "Drop this?"

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

_"A letter to my future self, am I still happy, I begin  
Have I grown up pretty? Is daddy still a good man?  
Am I still friends with Colleen? I'm sure that I'm still laughing  
Aren't I, aren't I...?"_

-Akira Yamaoka

For a long stretch of time the two of them sat in complete silence on the edge of the roof; Rouge with her hands folded neatly in her lap next to Tails who was turning his wallet over and over in his hands. The world below them seemed deserted, lit only by streetlamps and the rare passing car, Only the light traffic broke the illusion that they were completely alone on the planet.

Tails attempted to speak several times, but found he neither knew what to say or how to say it. He had questions, hundreds of them, yet there were no words for them. Instead he found himself feeling completely lost. Rouge had always been a shifty character, true; but to resort to petty thief didn't seem to fit her at all, it wasn't right. He wanted- needed- to know exactly what had happened over the past few years to change her like this. The last time he had seen her Rouge had gone pretty much down the strait path and received steady work from GUN, so happened? In the end he found that there was no polite way to ask the questions he had swirling in his mind, no pretty words or dramatic dialog like characters on TV. Real life is rarely as eloquent as fiction. Without a perfect scriptwriter providing him his deep, emotional lines Tails' flustered brain could only sum up all of his questions into a single, simple word:

"Why?"

"It talks," Rouge commented with her calm 'I'm-okay-you're-okay-everything's-okay' voice, but she would not look at him at all. Instead her eyes stared far off into the distance as if they were scanning the horizon for signs of something precious lost. Her face did not match the steady tone of her voice, either. Instead she had the appearance of a child who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It was a look so solemn and unlike her that it almost hurt to look at. Tails felt pity building up inside him, filling up all of the empty space the disappearing anger created. Still, he kept his sight on her until she finally met his gaze. She remained silent for a bit maybe hoping that he would just give up and let her go, but when she understood she wasn't going to be so lucky, Rouge began to talk.

"Look, kid, it's not as easy as all of that. Sometimes bad things just happen."

"Don't talk to me like a child, Rouge. You know I'm not."

"Yeah. I guess you're right. Putting your life on the line to fight evil and save the world and all that crap; not exactly kid stuff, is it?"

Tails agreed that it wasn't. In truth, he had never really had the luxury of being a real kid. While he might enjoy some of the same things as children: video games, sweets, maybe a good cartoon on TV, he had never really know the care-free ignorance of youth. There were people who had relied on him and his knowledge. Tails was too modest to admit this, even to himself, but he had saved _lives_ because of his talents. On the surface is sounded wonderful to be so important, but no person his age should be as heavily needed and relied on as he was. Tails had to grow up, at least emotionally, as fast as he could and that began a constant battle inside between the little boy he really was and the man he had to be. Despite all these feelings, he kept his silence. This wasn't about him. As much as he wanted to vent his own frustrations, it seemed that Rouge needed it more and there was also the undeniable curiosity about her story which he held. Whatever it was that happened while she was away, he had to know.

She breathed a deep sigh and rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger.

"Kid, you're giving me a migraine, but fine; I'll tell the story of my little fall from grace. I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it. After all, it's only fitting that I end up here after all the things I've done in my life, isn't it? God, karma's a bitch."

Rouge lifted her right leg from where it dangled over the edge and hugged it close to her body, though he didn't know if it was for comfort or warmth. Her soft blue gaze retuning once more to the horizon as she started her story.

"After Eggy's . . . accident GUN decided that my particular brand of talent was better used elsewhere. I was assigned a few odd missions here and there, but as time passed I began to notice that my assignments were becoming less important. In less then a year I was given work that any rookie GUN agent could have done. As you can imagine, I wasn't too happy with that. I'm no fool, though. I understood perfectly well what they were doing; they were taking me out of the loop. One night I broke into the chief's private files looking for any evidence to backup my suspicions. If there's one good thing about government red tape, it's that there's always paperwork to back up everything. You can barely go to the bathroom without something writing a report on it.

It took me hours to sort though all of the files. I'll spare you the technical mumbo-jumbo, but what I found basically said that I was no longer an asset to the organization and was to be phased out to a low level position."

Rouge turned to the fox with the tranquility of her usually cool attitude broken by the anger of betrayal.

"Can you believe that crap? After everything I did for them they decided that I wasn't important any more. They wanted me as some pencil pusher wasting away at a desk. They wanted to toss me aside like I was trash instead of a living thing!"

"What did you do," he asked in a low voice.

"What do you think? I told them to shove it and quit," Rough sighed again and gave a smile that had no humor behind it. "That was my pride getting in the way again. I couldn't take the fact that I wasn't being treated as the center of the universe so I walked out on what was basically a good thing. Since then things have. . ."

She paused, searching for words that didn't seem to come. She settled by saying: "Things have been bad."

"It's been one odd job after another," she added. From there she rattled off a long list of occupations she's gone though including waitress, bartender, security guard, valet, and well as something she said she 'wasn't proud of'. Tails gave a slight gasp of this; a bit of his naiveté showing through his outer shell of false maturity. Rouge shook her head and said that it was nothing like that, just a little dancing. She held his position for no more then a week before being canned for giving a customer a concussion after he refused to follow that 'no touching' rule. It seemed as though no matter what honest position she took on she was fired from because of her attitude, stubbornness, sharp tongue, or some combination of the three.

"I was getting desperate," she explained. "I was starting to get scared that I was actually going to starve. I was walking back to my apartment from the unemployment office when it happened; I was so busy lost in my own thoughts that I never saw the guy coming at me and he was so caught up in his cell phone that he didn't see me. We collided, he apologized, I was in a crap mood but I apologized too, and he walked away. Then for some reason I look down and I see a wallet lying at me feet. I pick it up and open it, to check for an ID, of course."

_Of course_, Tails thought a little sarcastically, but kept that particular comment to himself.

"It turns out to by the guy I just hit and it has better then five hundred dollars in it. That was enough to pay the rent that month and be able to buy some real food for once. From there things just kinda spiraled. I started stealing from people, only a little at first and only very easy targets, but as time passed I grew better at my trait and bolder; I started going after bigger payoffs. I think it was the thrill I liked the most. I had the rush again, the same one I got from fighting Robotnik, not to mention that I actually had cash to spend on rent and food."

A faint and sad chuckle left her throat.

"I always thought it would be a cop that would nab me eventually. Never would I have thought that- I mean. . ."

She trailed off, looking into Tails' face for only the second or third time since she started her story. There was something about her now that was different then the last time he had seen her, Tails suddenly realized, but he could not exactly point out what. The words were there on the tip of his tongue and then they were gone; dust in the wind.

"Look, kid, for what it's worth; I'm sorry. If I had know that was you I never would have done that, but you really shouldn't be holding your valuables out in the open like that in the city at night. Not a smart move."

"Sorry, but I wasn't planning on getting mugged today."

"Try and keep your schedule more open next time."

They both shared a small laugh for the unfunny joke. It was nice, Tails felt, to have familiar company. Rouge may have always been a bit distant from the rest of them, but she had never once failed her friends when they needed her and Tails liked to believe that there was a good heart behind all of the attitude and tough words. Overall, she didn't make for all that bad company.

"So I spilled my story, now how about yours? What brings you to this little slice of hell?"

Tails had been afraid that she would ask something like that. He had been hoping that she wouldn't care enough to ask, but it seemed like if she couldn't get off the hook, than neither could he. He told his own tale picking it up after she had left for her new GUN mission. While he kept out some of the more personal parts, he more or less found himself spilling out most of the frustration, fear, and loneliness he had been feeling. He didn't know if she was going to make fun of him and he didn't care if she did. It felt so good to vent. It was like a weight had been taken off of his heart, all be it a small one. Still, Tails found he could breathe slightly better now then he had for a long time.

"And the worst part," he said as he reached the end of his story "is the knowledge that I have to go back to a dark, empty apartment now. My place seems to get bigger at night. I don't know if you can understand that, but when it gets dark everything just feels so. . .empty."

After he finished there came another long pause as Rouge just stared at him. Tails was becoming afraid that he had just completely bored her, or worse: amused her. If she started laughing at him now, Tails felt he might break like fine china hitting a stone floor.

She didn't laugh. Instead, her face grew very serious as she said; "You don't have to."

"W-what?"

Tails was completely confused by the comment and was unable to draw any connection between that and anything he had just said.

"Go back to an empty place," she said as if speaking to a very dim child. "You said you didn't want to go back to your empty apartment and I said you don't have to. I'll take you back to my place. It's nothing fancy, but its nice enough I think."

"Why?" he asked, thrown by what would make her want his company at all and speaking that word again. 'Why' was a simple, yet powerful word from which all knowledge steamed, at least that's what he thought.

"Several reasons, but mostly because I'm cold and would like to continue this little reunion someplace with working heat and indoor plumbing. So; yes or no, kid?"

Tails began to bob his head up and down fiercely, hardly able to believe what was going on.

"Y-yeah! Totally! Love to!"

"Good," Rouge said as her old, familiar grin appeared on her face again. "I'll grab my coat."

**TO BE CONTINUED.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

_"I'm looking at you through the glass...  
Don't know how much time has passed.  
Oh, god it feels like forever.  
But no one ever tells you that forever,  
Feels like home sitting all alone inside your head"_

-Stone Sour

The walk home had been pleasant, if not uneventful. The two of them chatted and shared some laughs, but neither dared to venture into more serious subjects. There had already been enough sad stories mixed with unhappy memories for the time being. It was like a silent agreement passed between them to keep the mood light by catching up on more pleasant moments in their lives and leave the problems behind as long as they could. Of course, they both knew well enough that, no matter how hard they try, the tone would darken again.

Tails wasn't exactly sure how long they had been walking by the time Rouge touched him arm, telling him that they had arrived. It had felt like only a few minutes had passed, but looking around he found himself in an area of the city that he was unfamiliar with. The buildings around them seemed to share a kind of theme where they were all designed to look old, but one could see through this façade, even at night. Nothing around them could have been more than ten or fifteen years old as far as he could tell, though the effect was still rather quaint.

Following close behind Rouge, she led him up the front steps and into the building. The two took a short trip down a hall before stopping again at a door labeled 117 in black letters nailed to its front.

"Here we are," she said as he removed a small ring of keys from her clothes; singling out a small gold colored one. "Home, sweet home."

There was a click at the door's lock released that seemed to echo down the empty hall. Rouge then removed her key, pushed the door open and stepped inside. The apartment was nothing grand, but when compared to his little hole in the wall, it seemed like a palace. Inside was a large living room that connected to the kitchen through an open doorway. To his left was a short hall with two doors on either side which Tails assumed to be the bed room and bathroom. The carpeting was a tan color that watched well with the white walls. She had managed to decorate the place nicely for someone on a budget, but the whole décor didn't seem to match her personality at all. It bared more of an appearance to someone who just needed to put up something to cover the blank walls. Either way it still looked nicer than his pad which only theme was posters of bands and videogames he liked. His apartment was decorated like a kid's room while hers looked so much more. . .adult. Tails found he envied that a bit; wishing that his place held the same warm charm as hers.

"Have a seat," she said as leaned into her mini-hallway and threw her coat into the room on the right. "Want something to drink?"

Saying that he'd like to, Tails sat down on her couch and unwrapped the scarf from around his neck. The warm air coming from the overhead vents made it unnecessary to wear. As he took another look around the room, Rouge crossed to the kitchen. There cam the sound of wood cabinets being opened and the clinking of glass for a few moments before she reappeared in the living room holding two glasses in one hand and a bottle of red wine in the other.

Tails looked at the bottle with mild surprise. When she said 'drink' he thought she was referring to water or tea or something. He opened his mouth to object as politely as he could, saying that he was still a few years away from being able to drink legally, but before he could make a sound, though she placed the items on the coffee table between them and held up one finger against his lips, shushing him.

"Now unless the next words out of your mouth are 'thank you' I don't want to hear a peep out of you. I've been saving this stuff for something important so you better be grateful. So," Rouge said as he removed her finger from his lips and opened the bottle "what were you going to say?"

"T-thank you."

"Good boy," she replied and poured.

Picking up his glass from the table, Tails looked at the red liquid inside. He felt a little too young to drink, but there was no denying that there was at least a little curiosity on his part about how it might taste, and if nothing else Rouge did say that this was for a special occasion. Tails, not wanting to offend her, lifted the glass to his mouth and drank. The strong flavor overwhelmed him for a moment and also brought up a coughing fit, which he was luckily able to get under some control.

"Tastes funny," he said.

"Mm-hm. You'll get used to it," she assured him as she took a sip of her own. Her lipstick never even smeared on the glass.

"You have a nice place here," Tails said in an effort to somehow keep their conversation going as he took another drink, this time the wine went down much smoother and it even tasted a little better, although he didn't think he was going to make a habit for drink the stuff. He'd just finish off his glass for her to be polite.

"I suppose it has its charms, though it's nothing like the condo I used to own. I believe you were there once, right Tails? It had a beautiful view as well as housed all of my own little treasures. That was my own little paradise." Rouge cut herself off and gave him a slight amused look. "Why are you smiling like that?"

"Oh, was I? Sorry, I didn't realize. It's just that, it's kinda stupid but it's that no one's called me 'Tails' in a long time. It was just thinking how nice it was to hear my nickname again."

A warm smile touched the corners of her mouth.

"It's nice to remember the glory days, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "Yeah, it is. . ."

The clock on her wall ticked away at its steady rhythm as the two enjoyed each other's company, and as they talked the wine in their glasses became less and less until both had taken their last sips. Tails found the wine a still gross at first, but the taste improved over time and had settled a strong warm sensation inside that he found he enjoyed. At the moment everything felt like it was okay. The fear and stress that his 'adult' life brought him was mostly gone and here in Rouge's company he believed that he could at last relax. He found it hard to remember the last time he felt this good.

"Rouge, can I ask you something kinda personal?"

The bat, who was pouring both of them another glass, paused for a moment, seeming to mull over if she should let him continue. Coming to the conclusion that the worst of the night embarrassing events were already over, she told him to go ahead and ask.

"Well, I was just wondering about you. . .and Shadow. I mean, I always thought the two of you were kinda close, but you never mentioned him once in your story. Did you never see him again, or something?"

Rouge took a larger then normal sip of her drink. She honestly considered lying to him and saying that, no, she never did see him again after that last battle. The kid would buy that line, she had no doubt of that and it would allow her to keep some old wounds closed. She knew that everything would be better if she just told him a lie and moved on and maybe she would have done it too if she didn't make the mistake of looking into the kid's eyes. Tails had a face that was so full of honesty, his eyes were kind and wise, and his smile was always so sweet. She knew she couldn't just lead him on like that. God help her, but she_ liked_ the kid, she really did. It was going to suck, but she knew the second she opened her mouth nothing but the horrible, ugly truth would come out.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

_"Sleep tight, grim rite, we have two hundred couches where you can,  
Sleep tight, grim rite, we have two hundred couches where you can,  
Sleep tonight.  
Sleep tonight.  
Sleep tonight.  
Sleep tonight."_

-Interpol

"I loved him once," she said. "At least, I thought I loved him, I don't know. Everything's a bit confusing now. I think back to those days and I try to remember if I was happy or not, but all that I can really think of is the fighting."

Rouge stared down into her drink and she gently swirled the glass around in one hand. Tails looked over at her from his end of the couch and wondered if he should have ever brought the topic up. He had become an expert over how painful certain memories could be and Rouge seemed especially upset by these. He didn't like how serious her face was or the distant look in her eyes, she barley resembled the girl that he used to know. Tails was beginning to wonder if all of this was a big mistake; not just asking about Shadow, but coming back to her apartment like this. It seemed all he was doing was pressing his own troubles on to her and to do something like that to his friend was just selfish.

"Look, Rouge, if this is going to be too hard to talk about then you can just stop. We can talk about something else if you want, or. . .or I can just leave."

There was a brief pause where the girl was lost inside her own mind. Tails didn't know if she was deciding if she wanted to keep talking or if she wanted him to leave, but he guessed it really didn't matter, after all.

"No, no you don't have to leave," she responded. "I want to talk about this, I really do. This isn't exactly going to be any fun for me, but I think if I finally say it out loud maybe then I can get on with my life. Something like that."

Tails nodded and Rouge continued on.

"I wasn't lying about having to leave for a secret mission way back then. I can't really go into any details, even now, but you wouldn't want to hear them even if I could. My mission wasn't anything too interesting, nothing that's going to be a movie plot any time soon. You already know a lot of the story from here about how the assignments got worse and worse until I quit, I told you that part already, but there was a little more after that I left out.

This was back when I was working the first of many jobs. I was a bartender at this hole in the wall bar. The jukebox never worked, the beer was watered down swill, and the bathrooms always smelled like throw-up; not a very pretty picture, right? I toiled away in that trash heap for several weeks. I was always tired and upset, there was nothing I wanted nothing more then to leave but I didn't have anywhere to go, that was when Shadow just. . .showed up. I hadn't seen him in years and there he was just sitting in the far end of the bar. How does that line go? 'Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, he had to walk into mine?' It's something like that, not important, but that's kind of like how I felt. I walked over to him and surprised the hell out of him and then the two of us just started talking and. . ."

Rouge seemed to lose herself in thought again. There seemed to be a lot to tell, but she looked like she wasn't too comfortable talking about it all despite what she said.

"Time as a funny way to jumping forward. He would come back to that bar almost everyday, rain or shine. The next thing I know we're moving in together. We started a real relationship, Tails, and for awhile it was pretty good."

"What happened?" he asked.

"Pride," she responded. "Pride happened. It wasn't too long before the fights started to happen. Between his stubbornness and mine the two of us would just argue over the stupidest of things and neither one of us was ever willing to back down. Sometimes I think we went out of our way just looking for something to fight about. One day the two of us were going at it bad, we were screaming at each other. Shadow made a smart comment to which I responded with something I'm sorry for saying. Well, that was the last straw . Shadow threw what few things he had into a box and left. I never heard from him again, but to be fair since then I've worked several different jobs and moved half a dozen times, it's not like he could find me even if he wanted to."

"R-Rouge I'm. . .I'm so sorry."

Now Tails really did feel guilty about making her dig up those unpleasant memories. He felt liked he had to do something to comfort her, but he wasn't sure what. The best he could do was place a hand on her shoulder. It was a lame gesture that didn't begin to make up for the pain he had caused her, but it was the best he could do. Besides, he was suddenly feeling very tired and it was getting increasing harder to think strait.

"Thank you," she said as he took his hand from her shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze. "but you don't need to apologize. It's not you're fault."

"I shouldn't have made you-"

Rouge cut him off again.

"Don't. You had know way of knowing and, to be honest, I really did want to talk to someone."

"I'm glad it was me," Tails spouted. He knew he should have stopped right there, but he found his mouth still talking before he could stop it. "he was stupid for leaving someone as beautiful as you. If you were my girlfriend I'd never fight with you like that."

Rouge raised an eyebrow at him as an amused smile crossed her face.

"Oh, really? What are you trying to say?"

She was joking with him now, he knew that, but that didn't stop a deep blush from rising in face.

"What? N-no. Nothing. I- I didn't say anything."

"You said I was beautiful."

"Well, you are. But, I mean, you know you are, right? I mean-"

"You said '_if _I was your girlfriend'."

The smile on her face widened as Tails tried harder and harder to free himself from the hole he dug himself into, but did little more then dig himself deeper.

"No, what I meant was, I mean, when I was younger I used to- to. . ."

"To what?" she asked and leaned in a little closer to him; playing with him like a cat plays with a mouse before the kill.

"Before I. . .I used to. . .have a crush on you."

Tails stared at the floor between his feet. He just couldn't look Rouge in the eye right then, he felt so foolish and childish. His face was now bright red and his heart was beating like crazy. If Tails could have made himself spontaneously combust in that moment then he would have gone for it without a second thought. He was scared that Rouge was going to laugh at him or make fun of him for saying what he did, but she surprised him once again that evening. Instead of toying around with him any more, she simply stood from the couch and spoke to him in a very clam and motherly tone.

"I think I got you drunk, Tails."

"No, I'm fine. I'm just. . .just really tired. I should probably go home before I say something else stupid."

He began to rise to his feet, but was no more then half way there before his legs became rubber beneath him. They shook under his weight for a moment before giving away causing Tails to plop back down on the couch again.

"You're not going anywhere," she said with a shake of her head. "You can't even stand up, of God's sake."

Tails tried to protest that he was fine, but Rouge wouldn't let him get more then two words out before shutting him up.

"This isn't open for discussion, kid. Lay down. You're crashing here tonight."

"I really shouldn't," Tails responded, but found that he was already stretching out on the couch. It was very comfortable and he could already feel himself drifting away. The day had been emotional one and all the wine he had didn't help matters. Tails could see that the bottle in front of him was almost empty. He couldn't believe that they had drank that much, but there was the proof sitting before his closing eyelids.

"I really shouldn't," he tried to say again, but all that came out was a tangled mess of sounds that vaguely resembled words. A moment later his eyes closed completely and Tails drifted away into a deep sleep.

Rouge looked down at the kid. A faint smile touched the corners of her mouth as she thought of how cute and peaceful he looked in that moment despite that fact that she had got him hammered, and for the first time judging by the fact he only had about two glasses.

Making a quick trip to her linen closet, Rouge found a blanket she put over her bed sheets in cold weather and used it for Tails. She wrapped the blanket around him carefully so not to wake him. She meant to then go get ready for bed herself, but instead found herself standing there and looking down at the boy. He really was a sweet kid and that was going to be his biggest problem. Life had a way of seeking out the kind, gentle people and would then beat them down over and over again until there was nothing left. It was already happening to him. Rouge had noticed that Tails had lost a little of that wide eyed wonder that his face once held and for that she felt real pity for him.

"I wish I could stop it, kid. I really do."

In his sleep Tails mumbled something unintelligible and rolled over, burying his face into the back of the couch. Rouge took that as her moment to leave. The last few hours had been filled with sadness and self-anger; she had no intention of adding more by looking for Tails. He was going though a rough time, she understood that, but Rouge had enough problems of her own without adding his to her already heavy load.

Rouge shut off the light and wandered into her own bedroom, all the while wondering if, in her own moment of desperation, she had made a mistaking opening up to Tails like that. She didn't like anyone closer to her then arms length, but now that she had broken that rule how where things going to go from here?

"Damn it, girl. What do you think you're doing here?"

In the darkness of her apartment, there came no answer.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

_"And I find it kind of funny.  
I find it kind of sad.  
The dreams in which I'm dying,  
Are the best I've ever had.  
I find it hard to tell you,  
'Cos I find it hard to take.  
When people run in circles,  
It's a very, very  
Mad World." _

-Gary Jules_  
_

She brushed her teeth, changed out of her clothes, and slid between the covers of her sheets, but this was a close to sleeping as she could get. Rouge tried to lay on her back, then on her stomach. She situated herself on one side of her body and then rolled onto the other. She squirmed so much that the sheets came un-tucked and were now balled around her feet like chains. She managed to kick herself free from the mess and started to get up, but only managed to go as far as a sitting position before she stopped. The realization of how messed up her once perfectly set up life had become stuck her so quickly and with such force that Rouge could almost feel the air forced out of her lungs.

Look at her. Look at where she was. Once upon a time she was living in top floor condo filled with expensive things where she would stay in between saving the world and playing the role of 'woman of mystery', now where was the great and powerful Rouge? She was living as a petty thief in a crap apartment complex. What she really hated was not the apartment or the way she was staying alive, but the fact that all of this was her fault. It was her pride that caused her quit GUN where she should have just allowed herself to be demoted; at least she would still be getting paychecks and it was that same pride that cost her half a dozen more jobs afterward.

All of this was terrible, but true icing on the cake was losing Shadow. He had gone out of his way to try and help her every chance he got and each and every time she would push him away, and for what reason? Why, because she didn't like feeling vulnerable. Even when she was holding on to her last life line she still would not let anyone close to her even someone who cared about her; someone that she cared for, too. She deserved to lose her job, she deserved to lose Shadow, and, if we're being completely honest, she deserved what happened the day he left.

There was still one more part of the story that she did not tell Tails, and it was because she simply could not dare to relive it. Even now as she sat alone in the dark she tried to fight back the memories, but it was a futile as attempting to use an umbrella to push back the wind.

From the way she told him her story, she made it sound as though nothing more then a few harsh words were exchanged on that day. That was not a lie, they really were screaming at each other near the end, but out of anger and pride, and the fact that she could not let herself lose anything, not even a fight, she said something truly nasty. She could no longer remember what it was she said, and maybe that was a blessing, but whatever it was it cut Shadow deep, for just as soon as the words left her mouth she saw a sudden blur of movement out of the corner of her eye and before she could understand what it was, the back of Shadow's hand connected with her cheek. There was a sound like a single loud clap that pierced through the air followed by a thud as Rouge, confused and hurt, fell to the floor. The right side of her face was throbbing and already felt swollen. She carefully touched her hand to that side of her face and then looked at it. A feeling of dread welled up inside at the sight of her own blood on her fingertips.

She looked up at Shadow who stood there with his hands shaking ever so slightly. On his face was printed a look of confusion that was so unlike him that it might have been comical under different circumstances. He didn't seem to know what he did until after it was all over, but he offered no words of apology or comfort. Hell, he didn't even yell at her anymore. Instead he turned around and walking like a man in a dream, he opened their front door and left. She would never see him again, she only came home from work a week later to find his stuff gone. She quit her job and moved shortly after. There were too many bad memories in that house to stay, but Rouge would come to find that memories can never be left behind.

Rouge felt something wet splash against her bare leg and for a moment she could have sworn it was blood, that the old memories had opened up her wounds as she was bleeding all over again. It wasn't blood, though. That was just her imagination running away with her, what it really was seemed worse then blood; it was tears. She reached up and rubbed her wet eyes, but it did little help. Whatever tears she brushed away were quickly replaced by new ones.

Unable to cope with these feelings any longer, she hugged her knees in as tightly to her chest as she could and began to weep. She hated herself for being to weak and helpless, but the real reason she was losing control now was Tails. He was going through just as much shit as she was, but there were two major differences between them. While she had sabotaged her own life, all of his problems came from the fact that life had a way of finding the innocent and beating them down. All the kid was trying to do was better himself, but instead all he was learning was how hard life really was out in the real world and how much pleasure life took in ripping away everything you ever loved. The second thing was, whereas Rouge had given up hope and given in to temptation, here was Tails still pushing forward and still trying to smile after all the shit thrown at him. That was what was really forcing all of the tears she kept inside of her out that night. As it turns out, she wasn't as strong as she thought she was, yet the kid could somehow find something to pull him through. It didn't seem right. It didn't seem fair, and she hated herself for it.

Rouge sat in her room weeping tears of self-pity and she might have stayed like that all night long, if something hadn't stopped her.

"Rouge?"

The voice came from her open bedroom door. It was so timid and quiet that she almost didn't hear it. Rubbing her eyes clear, she looked up in that direction and saw Tails standing in the doorway, his body lit by the moonlight streaming in from her window. She instantly felt shame at herself for her selfish tears.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and Rouge had to hold back a laugh. Was she okay? Here she was bawling her eyes out in the dark in the fetal position and he wanted to know if she was okay? Oh, yeah. She was fine. She was just fucking dandy.

"No," she said. "I'm not. I'm really. . .really not."

**TO BE CONCLUDED**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII**

_"Tell me baby what's your story?  
Where do you come from,  
And where you wanna go this time oh.  
You're so lovely are you lonely?  
Giving up on the innocence you left behind?"_

-Red Hot Chili Peppers

What sleep Tails got was short lived. In a kind of half awake, half asleep stupor Tails forgot that he wasn't in his own bed and attempted to roll over to one side and suddenly found himself tumbling off the edge of the couch and onto the floor. His heart rate might sped up from the sudden and unexpected fall, but it did wonders waking him up. Tails managed remembered where he was and the fact that he allowed himself to have a little too much to drink, as the slight pounding in his head and terrible taste in his mouth reminded him.

He began to get to his feet when he saw the blanket balled up around his legs for the first time. A slight smile crossed his lips as he thought of Rouge wrapping the blanket around him as he slept. It was a simple gesture, but one he found very sweet, none the less. After putting the sheet back onto the couch, Tails carefully got to his feet using the coffee table as a brace. He was relieved to find that he could finally stand under his own weight. Tails was slightly embarrassed about collapsing onto the couch like he did earlier in front of Rouge, but whatever fears he might have had about such events repeating were ill founded.

Making his way into the kitchen using only the light coming from the windows to guide him, Tails approached the sink and turned the tap as a cold as he could get it before sticking his open mouth under the running water. The tap did a good job of getting rid of the nasty taste from his mouth, but there was still that nagging headache. Tails knew he would have a hard time falling back asleep with that dull throb in his head all night, so he decided to check Rouge's bathroom for some aspirin, hopefully she wouldn't mind if he took just one.

Tails carefully walked across the living room to the tiny hallway keeping one hand ready to grab hold of anything should his feet fail him again. He had just entered the hall when he heard the sound; deep but broken breathing coming from the bedroom interrupted by sniffling. It was a sound he recognized almost immediately, and why shouldn't he? There were many nights in his recent life where he made the same sound late at night while he clutched his pillow against his body.

For a moment he stood there, unsure of what to do. A part of him wanted to check on her and maybe make things better, but the other part told him to just turn and leave; pretend like he heard nothing. The smart thing to do would be to turn and leave right there, so Tails did the exact opposite. He approached her open door and stopped there. Before him, sitting at the head of the bed with her legs tucked close to her body and her face was buried in her knees was Rouge. She wore a white night gown that stopped just after her waist. In that position Tails could just see a hint of her red panties, but he forced his eyes up away from there. He realized that she didn't see him there and he knew that this was his last chance to slip away to the couch if he wanted to.

"Rouge?" he asked, being so quiet that he wondered if she would even hear him. She did. A slight blush crossed her face, one of shame rather then embarrassment. "Are you okay?"

A pause that seemed to last forever hung between the two and with each passing moment Tails felt more and more guilt build up inside of him. He somehow knew that her tears were his fault. He really couldn't go anywhere without spreading his misery, could he? He shouldn't have gone after her when she stole his wallet. He shouldn't have gone back to her place. He shouldn't have made her relive bad memories. He shouldn't be here at all.

"No," she said, almost startling Tails out of his own thoughts. "I'm not. I'm really. . .really not."

Tails took a step into her room and lowered his head.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. It's okay to hate me if you want."

"I don't hate you, okay? You're not the one I hate at all. Everything that's happening to me is my fault. This is what I get for being so selfish and stupid."

"Don't say that," he said and closed the distance between them. "Don't ever say that. You're strong willed, you know what you want and you go for it. That's not being stupid or selfish."

"Oh, yeah? Then explain to me how I got in this mess. This isn't what I want at all."

"You just need some help, that's all."

"Yeah? And who's going to do that?"

"Me." Tails wasn't sure exactly what was making him say these things. Acting this confident about something he knew nothing about didn't feel like him at all. Maybe it was the wine still in his system, or maybe he just wanted to make things right again, but he wasn't going to leave her like this. That simply wasn't in his nature.

"You? Tails you can't even help yourself."

Her words cut into his heart like a cold blade. Rouge raised her eyes up to match his so quickly that it was amazing she didn't hurt herself in the process.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I just tend to get defensive when I'm upset. I'm so sorry."

Rouge stood from her bed and stood before him. She looked awkward, like she was trying to figure out what she was supposed to do to take back what she said, but couldn't figure out what. Tails could the nightgown she wore barely covered her at all and Tails found he had to look away from her completely to keep himself from staring. He found it impossible to believe that someone as downright beautiful as her didn't have a boyfriend. She could have any man she wanted, and she knew it, so why did she chose to be alone? Tails knew why he was alone; he was awkward, shy, clumsy, and a freak. What person in their right mind would want him?

"No, you're right. I can't take care of myself. I thought I could, but. . .but maybe the problem is that we're trying to do this alone when we don't have to."

"What are you saying?"

"We don't have to be alone," he said, looking her in the eyes. "we both need somebody, Rouge. Why not help each other?"

"Tails, I. . .that's sweet but we. . .we just can't. I mean-"

She was slipping away from him. He knew in that moment that if he didn't do something he would lose his nerve and back down. Almost as soon as Tails met Rouge he fell for her, and hard. However, she had just been so perfect in every way that he was so scared to be around her let alone even try and let her know how he felt. Last time she left he thought he had lost his chance with her forever, and while Tails didn't believe in fate, meeting up with her again like this had to mean something and if he didn't at least try then he was sure he really would lose her forever. After spending a night like this they could never go back to just being friends. If he let Rouge talk him down then it really would be the end.

Filled with a confidence and desire he had never known before, Tails closed the small distance between them in one step. He wrap one arm around her thin waist, put his other hand behind her head, and kissed her as deeply and passionately as he knew how.

* * *

For Rouge it all happed so fast. One moment she was getting ready to let the kid down as gently as she could. His words were sweet and very kind, but she was sure that it was the alcohol talking instead of him, but before she could get more then a few words in, his arms wrapped around her and he felt his lips press firmly against hers, startling her so badly that she gave a slight gasp. Rouge put her hands against his chest to push him off so she ask what the hell he was thinking, but something made her stop. This was far from her first kiss. She had made out with Shadow before as well as other men from her past for both romantic reasons and as a way of extracting information. Most men, she found, became little more then blubbering piles of goo after a kiss or a little flash of leg, ready to spill every secret they ever know. This kiss, however, was different. Tails was a little clumsy and obviously unpracticed, but there was something so innocent and pure to his touch that it made her defenses break apart like glass. Before she realized what she was doing, she was kissing him back. When the embrace of their lips quit, Rouge scared for find she was a little upset.

"Rouge, I. . .I love you."

All she could do was just look at him, unable to believe that he just came out and said it. Never in her entire life had any man been so honest with her. There was no hidden meaning in his words or deception. In that moment Tails actually did something Rouge had not allowed of her self: he opened up his heart. Now it was all in her hands, and she could tell by the look in his eyes that she could crush him completely if she wanted to.

Something in the back of her head was screaming that all of this was so wrong. This was Tails saying these things. _Tails_! The kid was a complete nerd! He spent all of his time with computers and machines and who knows what other kinds of crazy crap that Rouge would never understand. He was all those things, but he was also honest, kind, innocent, pure. Tails would never fight with her, or force himself on her, or. . .or hit her. Tails was the rarest of all things: an honestly good person. For what ever reason, he wanted to be with her, and maybe it wasn't right, but it didn't feel that way. Rouge was so tired to being alone, if she wanted she could take any man she desired, but she never would have loved a single one of them, but Tails. . .could she love Tails?

One way to find out.

"If you hurt me," she said. "if you ever hurt me at all, I swear to God I'll never forgive you."

His face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I won't! I swear I'll never hurt you ever!"

The relief and joy in his face was all it took to convince Rouge that she was making the right choice. Their time together might not always be fairy-tale perfect, but it could still be very good.

"You said you wanted to help me, right?" Rouge asked, her voice taking on a sly and playful tone.

"Um. . .yes?" Tails responded sounding slightly confused.

"Well, it seems that I can fall asleep. I'm just not tired," Rouge tool his hand and led him towards her bed. "Maybe you can help ware me out."

"W-what?"

The sex they shared that night was better then any Rouge could remember. Maybe because it wasn't really 'sex', but rather it would be better called 'making love'. Before she didn't think there was a difference between those two words. She had always believed that they both explained the same thing, but that night she learned that there was a big difference between the two. The emotional connection mixed with the physical was so great that Rouge thought she was going to lose her mind. Tails might have been a little slow and timid at first, but she soon taught him exactly what to do and how to do it, and the kid was one hell of a fast learner. That night she slept with her face buried in his warm, fuzzy chest. Her sleep was the deepest and most comfortable she had ever known.

* * *

Tails awoke the next morning with the sun beating into his eyes. For a brief moment he was afraid that it had all been some kind of beautiful dream, that when he opened his eyes he would be back in his own room all alone again, but there was a smell of sweet perfume in the air that told him otherwise. It really did happen. As impossible as it was to believe he actually had Rouge as his own. He was in love and was loved back. If there was anything better in the world, then he didn't know of it.

He rolled over on his side and opened his eyes so that he could look at his new girlfriend (girlfriend! He actually had a girlfriend!), but instead found the bed was empty except for himself. Tails sat on the edge of the bed. At his feet were his clothes and her nightgown in a heap from the night before. He dug out his underwear, slipped them on, and headed out into the living room, hoping that she hadn't left the apartment. He wanted- needed- to see her again. Tails had found himself addicted to her, it seemed.

When he saw her standing in the kitchen, dressed in fresh clothes, his heart sped up. There she was in all her beautiful glory. Before her was an stove on which he could hear bacon frying. Feeling his eyes upon her, Rouge looked over at him.

Their eyes met.

She smiled.

He smiled.

Crossing the kitchen floor towards him, Rouge placed a hand on his cheek and gave him a light kiss. He felt a blush cross his face, Tails guessed that he would probably always blush that like every time she touched or kissed him, just another of his quirks, he guess.

"Morning, stud. Thought I'd make us some breakfast. Bacon and eggs okay?"

"Yeah, sounds good," he said and in that small kitchen in the fresh morning light Tails felt like everything was in place. If Rouge didn't think he was a freak, then maybe he wasn't one. Maybe there were more important things in like then tests and papers. Maybe, just maybe, between the two of them, they might actually survive this world.

Rouge patted his cheek a few time, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, are you alright? You spaced out on me."

"I'm okay," he said as he wrapped his arms around the love of his life. "Everything's. . .everything's really okay."

**THE END.**


	8. Author's Notes

Author's Notes

Tails has always been my favorite male character of the Sonic series and Rouge was my female, so I guess it's only natural that I want them to be together, to hell with age difference and logic, it's cute, damn it!

This story (which was only supposed to be one chapter) started when I picked up Sonic Chronicles: the Dark Brotherhood. The game was okay, I got a good week's worth of play out of it, but I doubt I'll ever pick it up again. There's no Tails x Rouge in the game of course, but I always made sure they were both on my team at all times.

Other then that, I don't think there's much to say about this story, so I'll just end things here before I ware out my welcome. Thanks for reading, I love the reviews, and I hope that you enjoyed the ride.

Adios.


End file.
